"Tik Tech": We tested the Philips Fidelio X3 headphones -

20 Minutes

  • The Philips brand stood out in audio almost 10 years ago with its headphones from the Fidelio range.

  • After several years of silence in the sound world, Philips is back with an excellent wired headset, the Fidelio X3, launched at 399 euros.

  • This home hi-fi headset surprises with its ability to introduce us to music in a different way, even with a smartphone.

Come-back.

After leaving high-end nomadic audio fallow, Philips is back on stage with its Fidelio X3 headphones.

Without a Bluetooth function, but with a real thread, these bulky hi-fi headphones want to reconnect with the DNA of Fidelio, that is, premium headphones with excellent value for money.

Faced with fierce competition, can Philips still convince?

Philips Fidelio X3 headphones, launched at 399 euros.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

For sedentary music freaks

At a time when

True Wireless

headphones are

establishing themselves as a new standard and when noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones are seeing their sales jump, the launch by Philips of its Fidelio X3 headphones seems incongruous.

But these wired headphones do not target nomads, more sedentary music freaks, those purists of good sound who make listening to music a true religion.

After a few years of absence in this universe (see box), Philips' bet was daring.

But it could well be won.

Bulky but relatively light (380 g), the Fidelio X3 is a headband helmet with a metal structure.

This hoop is covered with Muirhead leather (a high quality Scottish leather).

Velvet is summoned to cover the two large ear cups, while the outer shells of the headphones are dressed in Kvadrat fabric, a renowned Danish manufacturer in the audio world.

Scottish leather, velvet and Danish fabrics are produced in high quality.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

Inside, Philips has placed two 50mm transducers with neodymium magnets.

Two braided cables of 3 meters each are supplied: one with a 2.5 mini-jack, the second with a 3.5 mm plug.

Finally, a jack adapter is available.

It will connect the headphones to an amplifier.

A sound stage of unexpected magnitude

You have to curl up in an armchair or a sofa, “land”, or even put your smartphone in airplane mode to test the Fidelio X3.

Emotion sequence.

In addition to the comfort of wearing the headphones, we are instantly seduced by the depth of its musical reproduction.

The low mids are privileged, giving the voices an incomparable rendering.

Listening,

III

, the new album by Paul McCartney, revealed all the vocal nuances of the ex-Beatles, the Fidelio X3 knowing how to restore even the tiniest textures.

50 mm transducers oriented at 15 ° to reproduce spatialized sound.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

More suave, the songs of Melody Gardot on

Sunset in The Blue

, his last disc, infuse between the ears an invigorating heat.

Same observation with

Californian Soil

, the latest delivery from the London Grammar group which, in addition, reveals the ability of the Fidelio X3 to install captivating bass that does not however clutter the listening.

And we can even hear the sound of Chilly Gonzales' fingers hammering the piano keys in her interpretation of the

Silver Bells

on her album

A very chilly christmas

.

With a smartphone too

But one of the virtues of the new Philips headphones remains its ability to spatialize sound.

It is also necessary here to explore the classical repertoire to apprehend this perfect mastery of the constructor of the sound stage.

Close eyes.

Take a deep breath.

Let yourself be carried away.

Rub yourself against Bach or Brahms.

Savor Grieg or Haydn.

Meet in front of the orchestra for a private concert.

The Fidelio X3 is launched at 399 euros, but some websites already offer it at around 350 euros.

This price, which certainly seems high compared to that of many more classic headphones, ultimately remains moderate compared to other hi-fi headphones, such as the Sennheiser HD 660S (429 euros) or the Focal Elegia SV (599 euros).

The expense, tidy, is however justified by the benefits of the product.

If the Fidelio X3 can obviously be used on a smartphone and not disappoint, nothing will be worth using with uncompressed files (as with the Qobuz or Tidal platforms), or with a DAC, so that the music finds a dimension to which our eardrums have not been used to it for too long.

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The TP Vision remix

Fighting action at Philips.

After having entrusted the license of its audio products to Gibson Brands in 2017, the Dutch manufacturer had to review its strategy… a year later.

The bankrupt subsidiary of the Nashville guitar maker had to throw in the towel.

And Philips find a new partner.

Thus the Taiwanese TP Vision took over the Philips Audio license.

TPV is not an unknown manufacturer: it is he who has been making Philips televisions since 2012.

  • 20 minutes video

  • Tik Tech

  • Smartphone

  • Music

  • High Tech

  • Philips